Selangor MB: Project can give Klang Valley water for up to two weeks in case of pollution

KUALA LUMPUR: The water supply to consumers in Selangor will not be disrupted in the near future if Sungai Selangor suffers pollution, says Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari.

"The project is expected to be completed by the third quarter of this year.

"This will ensure at least five days of uninterrupted water supply even if pollution occurs," he said at a press conference in Parliament on Thursday. (Feb 16).

The Selangor Menteri Besar gave the assurance in reference to the Raw Water Guarantee Scheme (RWGS) project which is currently 40% complete.

He said the RWGS, which was launched in 2020 at a cost of over RM200mil, will ensure that polluted raw water is directed away from the water treatment plants here.

"Raw water from the storage ponds would instead be channelled to the treatment plants which can supply water between five days and two weeks," he said.

He said that Sungai Selangor did not suffer pollution in 2021 and last year but faced the problem recently which disrupted the water supply to 1.2mil Air Selangor account holders.

On Saturday (Feb 11), odour pollution at Sungai Selangor forced four water treatment plants (LRAs) in the state to be shut down temporarily.

The odour is believed to have been caused by a fuel spill, believed to be diesel from heavy machinery.

Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Air Selangor) succeeded in restoring water supply after the Sungai Selangor Phase 1, 2, 3 and Rantau Panjang water treatment plants resumed operations on Feb 12.

On a separate matter, Amirudin said that some 150km of water pipelines had been replaced in Selangor since 2016 to address loss of treated water supply or non-revenue water. (NRW)

He said the state has gradually lowered NRW from 31% in 2019 to about 28.5% last year.